Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

It did vaguely reference a "major university study. but vague references to "major university's" studies make me more suspicious then citing fortune cookies as your source.

Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

It did vaguely reference a "major university study. but vague references to "major university's" studies make me more suspicious then citing fortune cookies as your source.

This link has a slightly larger article about the jelly bean study including which colors mean what.

Logged

"I feel sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." "It is so low, in fact, that Miss Manners feels sure you would not want to resort to it yourself, even in your own defense. We do not believe in retaliatory rudeness." Judith Martin

Ball Cap was not the boss or the owner. He was the lowest ranking individual on the panel. He had worked for the company for 3 years (that's one of the questions I like to ask the interviewers -- you learn a bit about stability.) Since they were running an hour late with the interviews, I spent plenty of time in the lobby watching people come and go (patients, nurses, doctors, and staff). No one else had on a ball cap. It did not appear to be a religious issue, as the had matched his t-shirt, proclaiming his allegiance with a local college. (I've worked in religious institutions and know that yarmulkes and zucchettis stay on the wearer.) No one else had on a t-shirt either.

This might make me think that he was headed from or going to a college recruiting event. I could be way off, but if he's not new and none of the other interviewers were giving him funny looks, I would assume this is normal (and accepted) attire for him, at least in certain situations.

That was my thought as well. Perhaps he was called in at the last minute, and his schedule didn't allow time to change? I probably wouldn't think anything of it if none of his bosses were making any kind of deal about it.

Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

It did vaguely reference a "major university study. but vague references to "major university's" studies make me more suspicious then citing fortune cookies as your source.

This link has a slightly larger article about the jelly bean study including which colors mean what.

On almost any job application there is/was a place for "other interests". One day I found and read the hiring guide put out by some personal company/staffing researching company (this was 20 years ago I have no idea who ) What struck me was the guide said (this was for sales positions) "Select applicants who mention team activities such as playing team sports and do not hire applicants who list solo activities such as reading." Even a relatively logical correlations "People who ONLY enjoy activities that involve no other people may make bad sales people." was be misapplied into "People who list 2 or 3 activities on a job application other then team activities make poor sales people". At this time people were still making the decisions so they just ignored that advice. Now that applications are being computer screened I wonder how many random "automatic reject" answers are programed for seeming innocuous questions and are based on "Major university studys" and wild logic jumps.

Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

It did vaguely reference a "major university study. but vague references to "major university's" studies make me more suspicious then citing fortune cookies as your source.

Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

It did vaguely reference a "major university study. but vague references to "major university's" studies make me more suspicious then citing fortune cookies as your source.

We can invent all sorts of reasons for a baseball cap. It may just be because he could get away with it. And it might be very inappropriate attire.

But I reserve the word "offended" for pretty personal and "deliberately pointed at me" stuff.

For me to get offended, I'd have to believe that this guy was deliberately wearing his baseball cap AT me. Hard for me to take that seriously. And since it would have nothing to do with me, and probably nothing to do with how seriously he wanted to recruit me, and everything to do with the fact that he likes to wear a baseball cap, I wouldn't be *offended.*

Wow! Why would anyone do an activity in a meeting where people would be described as "skilled brown-noser", " might stay at school to horde supplies" or "The red jelly bean person can be extremely frustrated. In fact, researchers would like you to submit your name and address for future research!" (specially for a commonly liked flavour like strawberry).

And there's no evidence that this is anything more than one person's idea- no research is cited.

It did vaguely reference a "major university study. but vague references to "major university's" studies make me more suspicious then citing fortune cookies as your source.

This link has a slightly larger article about the jelly bean study including which colors mean what.

Ah...she came up with 56 profiles, based on a sample of 101 people? I'd love to figure out how THOSE stats worked.

Pop psychology at its very worst. "People" magazine isn't a scientific journal (by any stretch of the imagination), nor is a newspaper. I searched PubMed and could only find one citation that might be the psychologist in question and no citations for any jelly bean study. In other words, this was science-by-press-release.

Logged

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain

My BIL has had brain surgery and he has been able to wear a baseball cap at work. He does see contractors and dresses on the casual side (like the IT dress mentioned) but he probably didn't wear a hat before he recently had to cut all his hair off to do radiation and now you can really see the scar (the surgery was a few years ago). He is a chatty guy, so I assume he probably has told some of his clients but maybe not as people get real freaked out about that sort of stuff.

So what I am saying, is there could be a medical reason for the hat and the interviewer has no reason to tell the interviewee. I think it is a bit much to initially be offended as long as he was professional and took the interview seriously the cap should just have been ignored.

Perhaps that's the point, to throw the interviewer out of his/her comfort zone. We're used to a certain "look" at a corporate interview, and a baseball cap obviously is different. Maybe the aim is to see who doesn't get flustered by it.

I can't stand mind games like that. I wouldn't get flustered, but I wouldn't think too highly of the interviewer.

My dh once did an interview in which they put a huge jar of jelly beans in front of each candidate. He was offered the job and asked what the deal was with the jelly bean jar, at which point the HR person laughed and said that department used the jelly bean "test" to determine which candidate to hire. He turned the job down based on that because (1) he thought the test was stupid and (2) loathes playing "games" to make important decisions and didn't want to be part of that environment. He knew the person who did take the job and he ended up leaving because they were always having these inane "tests" sprung on them that counted more in their reviews than their actual work.

What was the test ? how did you pass the jelly bean quiz?

FTR, the test had nothing to do with colors of the jellybeans. The test was to see how you reacted to the jar of food items. Do you move it? Do you leave it? If you move it, to where do you move it? Do you ask a question about it? Do you take jellybeans? Do you offer the jellybean jar to others?

For those who wear baseball caps indoors, "because I'm balding/have bad hair/have scars/whatever," could you perhaps invest in some different headgear, at least?

Ball caps give a message of either "I'm playing right now, not working," or "I'm doing manual labour outdoors." At least a fedora or porkpie would have a more upscale appearance!

Logged

My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."

Perhaps that's the point, to throw the interviewer out of his/her comfort zone. We're used to a certain "look" at a corporate interview, and a baseball cap obviously is different. Maybe the aim is to see who doesn't get flustered by it.

I can't stand mind games like that. I wouldn't get flustered, but I wouldn't think too highly of the interviewer.

My dh once did an interview in which they put a huge jar of jelly beans in front of each candidate. He was offered the job and asked what the deal was with the jelly bean jar, at which point the HR person laughed and said that department used the jelly bean "test" to determine which candidate to hire. He turned the job down based on that because (1) he thought the test was stupid and (2) loathes playing "games" to make important decisions and didn't want to be part of that environment. He knew the person who did take the job and he ended up leaving because they were always having these inane "tests" sprung on them that counted more in their reviews than their actual work.

What was the test ? how did you pass the jelly bean quiz?

FTR, the test had nothing to do with colors of the jellybeans. The test was to see how you reacted to the jar of food items. Do you move it? Do you leave it? If you move it, to where do you move it? Do you ask a question about it? Do you take jellybeans? Do you offer the jellybean jar to others?

I'd probably just ignore it, which would probably disqualify me in some mysterious way, thus dodging the bullet.

Perhaps that's the point, to throw the interviewer out of his/her comfort zone. We're used to a certain "look" at a corporate interview, and a baseball cap obviously is different. Maybe the aim is to see who doesn't get flustered by it.

I can't stand mind games like that. I wouldn't get flustered, but I wouldn't think too highly of the interviewer.

My dh once did an interview in which they put a huge jar of jelly beans in front of each candidate. He was offered the job and asked what the deal was with the jelly bean jar, at which point the HR person laughed and said that department used the jelly bean "test" to determine which candidate to hire. He turned the job down based on that because (1) he thought the test was stupid and (2) loathes playing "games" to make important decisions and didn't want to be part of that environment. He knew the person who did take the job and he ended up leaving because they were always having these inane "tests" sprung on them that counted more in their reviews than their actual work.

What was the test ? how did you pass the jelly bean quiz?

FTR, the test had nothing to do with colors of the jellybeans. The test was to see how you reacted to the jar of food items. Do you move it? Do you leave it? If you move it, to where do you move it? Do you ask a question about it? Do you take jellybeans? Do you offer the jellybean jar to others?

I'd probably just ignore it, which would probably disqualify me in some mysterious way, thus dodging the bullet.

Me too , unless it was so large it blocked my view of the people I was speaking to.